Our History
What began as a hobby grew to become the world's leading consumer survey-based leisure information source. In 1979, Nina and Tim Zagat were at a dinner party with friends. During the meal, one of the dinner guests started complaining about the restaurant reviews of a major newspaper. Everyone agreed that the paper's reviews were unreliable.
It was at that moment Tim suggested taking a survey of their friends. This led to 200 amateur critics rating and reviewing 100 top restaurants for food, décor, service and cost. The results, printed on legal-sized paper, were an instant success with copies being scooped up all over town.
Today, Zagat has expanded to cover more than 100 countries worldwide and a range of leisure activities including dining, travel, nightlife, shopping, golf, theater, movies and music. Zagat content – available today on most media platforms – lets people search for and find the perfect places for their needs based a wide range of useful criteria. That breadth and depth of information has made Zagat a name that consumers can trust – even if they aren't sure how to pronounce it.
Zagat Survey is proud to give consumers a voice to express their opinions. With more than 350,000 surveyors worldwide, that collective voice forms the foundation of Zagat's success. The company is deeply grateful to the many thousands of consumers who have generously shared their experiences over the past 30 years.
